1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless telecommunications and more particularly to wireless telecommunication using diversity transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
Wireless mobile stations, such as PCS and cellular telephones, WAP-enabled communication devices, personal digital assistants, IEEE 802.11 stations, cordless telephones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), two-way mobile radios (e.g. FRS-band radios), portable messaging devices (e.g., “Blackberry” devices) and wireless computers, have become widely used in society today. Suitably equipped, such a mobile station may connect a user to a network over an air interface, thereby enabling the user to engage in many useful voice and data communications without the need for a landline connection.
The mobile station will communicate over the air interface with a base transceiver station, which in turn transmits the signal to a base station controller. Due to noise limited conditions, the signal transmitted from the mobile station may fade on route to the base transceiver station, making it impossible for the base transceiver station to interpret the transmitted signal. To combat the signal fading, mobile stations typically increase the power level of the transmitter. This increase in power protects the transmitted signal during periods where the transmitted signal may be severely faded. However, increasing the transmit power level is an impractical solution in the context of a mobile station. Mobile stations have very limited power capabilities due to battery constraints, in turn limiting the ability to boost the power level in a transmitted signal to an adequate level.